All in it together – some of the time!

Groucho Marx : illogical and funny but somehow striking a chord of truth.

November 16, 2016

Groucho Marx famously said that he didn’t want to belong to any club that would accept him as a member. That’s a typical Groucho-ism: illogical and funny but somehow striking a chord of truth. I think it says something about what we expect from the groups, teams and communities we join, and hence why we join them – and why we leave.

For most people, the organisation they’re employed by is also a community they belong to and their feelings towards it affect their quality of life profoundly.

Having the ability to survive alone is useful. But for most of us, life is much better if we have companionship and, especially, co-operation. In the age of machines we forget how much more powerful groups are than individuals. Look at ancient monuments like Stonehenge, the pyramids or massive earthworks and you can see what can be achieved when you have many people and the simplest technology. So do we no longer need to join groups now that we’ve got machines to dig holes and to make things?

Well, there are other benefits besides building pyramids:

We also join groups for security – to be protected by the crowd and/or to help look after other members.

The sense of belonging is very important for most of us. We seek out affection and love.

Many people are “internally referenced”, that is they tend to look inside themselves for the standards to make judgements against. But many (perhaps most) of us are externally referenced and need to know what others think before we make choices. And this extends to how we feel about ourselves, so that self-esteem depends to a degree on the reassurances we get from others.

And we might also feel that our life’s purpose involves making a positive difference to society in some way. But “society” is probably too big a thing to be influenced by most individuals so we look to smaller groupings to identify with and to put our efforts into.

The list of rewards I’ve just run through is actually Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and membership of a family or tribe ticks all of the boxes. Potentially, you get everything from basic, physical needs all the way up to personal growth and fulfilment by being on the inside.

There’s always a cost though. You have to commit time and effort to group activities, even those that you aren’t that interested in or approving of. (Taxation may be an example of this!)

And you have to accept certain restrictions on your personal freedom, sacrificing some of your independence and individual identity. In fact the group you belong to usually defines you to an extent – from the football team you support through to your nationality. And it’s no accident that we use the language of identity in relation to group membership: I am a United supporter or I am English rather than I support United (an action) or I was born in England (historical event).

Over the years I’ve joined and left quite a few professional and community organisations. Typically, I joined because I thought I was going to be doing things I enjoyed or because I thought my career would benefit. I left when the group no longer gave me enough reward (usually intangible) to be worth the effort involved in participating. Or membership became increasingly uncomfortable, feeling less sense of belonging, to the point that I was “moved to move”: typical away-motivated behaviour.

Is this what the Brexiteers have expressed about the European Union? It’s not worth the effort and/or we no longer identify with the group?

When the “Gang of Four” broke away from the British Labour Party to form the Social Democratic Party in 1981 they were objecting to certain changes in Labour policy. Ironically, one of the policy issues was Labour’s new commitment to withdraw Britain from what was then called the European Economic Community. So the rebels left the party to object to leaving the EEC!

More familiar than political disagreements, the trauma of the end of a relationship, bereavement or retirement from work generates the same range of emotions. Then it’s tempting to move away from all the things that remind you of what’s missing and, perhaps, somehow to regain the initiative in your life. That’s usually a mistake since by moving you also leave behind all of the other familiar, comfortable things that sustain you.

Humans are tribal beings. If we leave one group we will look for another to join. Our deepest needs drive us to seek the companionship, comfort and security of a “family”. And you can’t put a price on any of that!

News Bites

May to hold talks with Merkel in Berlin
Theresa May is due to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she seeks to make progress on negotiating Brexit. The PM will travel to Berlin for the meeting at the Chancellery. It comes a day ahead of a speech on Saturday in which she is expected to set out the “security partnership” she wants to maintain with the EU. The UK is under pressure to reveal more detail about the final relationship it wants with the EU. Mrs May and her ministers are setting out what has been dubbed “the road to Brexit” in a series of speeches. BBC news, February 16

UK aims to keep financial rules close to EU
The UK is ready to set out its vision for how it wants financial services to operate after Brexit and favours an ambitious “mutual recognition” of regulations to preserve the City of London’s access to the EU. Under Britain’s proposal, the UK and the EU would recognise each other’s regulatory and supervisory regimes and would have aligned rules at the point of Brexit, with a mechanism that would monitor any divergence. Three senior figures briefed on Brexit discussions in the cabinet said that the government will back the proposal, which is also favoured by Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor. Financial Times, February 16

Business leader warns May against harsh immigration policy
British companies are facing a recruitment crisis, with labour shortages hitting critical levels in some sectors, according to a business leader who has urged the government to produce details on a post-Brexit immigration system. Adam Marshall, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the lack of candidates for some jobs was biting hard, and he warned ministers against bringing forward a “draconian and damaging” visa or work permit system. Surveys by the BCC showed that nearly three-quarters of firms trying to recruit had been experiencing difficulties “at or near the highest levels since [BCC] records began over 25 years ago”, he said. The Guardian, February 16

Lecturers want ‘radical’ tuition fee review
University staff are calling for a “radical” overhaul of tuition fees and higher education funding in England in a review of student finance. Sally Hunt, leader of the University and College Union, says the review must be more than “tinkering at the edges”. The review, expected to be formally announced in the near future, follows a promise by the prime minister to examine the cost of university. Theresa May said the review would show “we have listened and we have learned”. Ms Hunt, whose members are threatening strike action next week in a pensions dispute, says there needs to be a “fundamental look at university funding”. BBC news, February 16

Shampoo ‘as bad a health risk as car fumes’
Shampoo, oven cleaner, deodorant and other household products are as significant a source of the most dangerous form of air pollution as cars, research has found. Scientists studying air pollution in Los Angeles found that up to half of particles known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) came from domestic products, which also include paint, pesticides, bleach and perfumes. These compounds degrade into particles known as PM2.5, which cause respiratory problems and are implicated in 29,000 premature deaths each year in the UK. Traffic had been assumed to be the biggest source of air pollution. The new findings, published in the journal Science, led to warnings that countries may struggle to hit pollution targets, with most tackling vehicle emissions. The Times, February 16

US rejects China bid for Chicago Stock Exchange
The US has rejected a proposed merger between the Chicago Stock Exchange and a Chinese-linked investor group. The decision comes after more than two years of reviews by officials. The tie-up was initially approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, pending further approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But US politicians, including President Trump, have said letting a Chinese firm invest in a US exchange was a bad idea. Under the proposal, the Chinese-led North America Casin Holdings group would have bought a minority share of the privately owned Chicago Stock Exchange. BBC news, February 16

Labour gets 16,000 emails in five days urging it to consult on Brexit
More than 16,000 people have emailed Labour over the past five days, urging the party to consult members on Brexit after MPs said the topic was being ignored by its most senior policy body. The emails from party members will be examined by the party’s national policy forum (NPF), which meets this weekend in Leeds, and whose members include the shadow cabinet and trade union leaders. Labour has set up eight policy commissions since last year’s general election, to consult members and develop policy, but none focus on Brexit. The party has said Brexit is covered under the international policy commission, involving Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, but that commission is not at the moment accepting submissions on Brexit. The Guardian, February 15